{"id":456702,"date":"2020-12-10T10:26:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T17:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=456702"},"modified":"2020-12-10T14:56:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:56:11","slug":"caeleb-dressel-comes-up-shy-of-sub-20-effort-in-outlawed-speedo-lzr-bodysuit-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/caeleb-dressel-comes-up-shy-of-sub-20-effort-in-outlawed-speedo-lzr-bodysuit-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Caeleb Dressel Comes Up Shy of Sub-20 Effort In Outlawed Speedo LZR Bodysuit (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caeleb Dressel Comes Up Shy of Sub-20 Effort In Outlawed Speedo LZR Bodysuit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caeleb Dressel, <\/strong>swimming in the Speedo LZR Racer, originally outlawed in the United States on October 1, 2009, tackled the sub 20 in 20 challenge this week in California in an attempt to see how fast he can go in one of the fastest swimsuits of all-time.<\/p>\n

On attempt 1, Dressel swam a 20.41, off his best time of 20.16 from the International Swimming League Grand Final<\/a> last month which stands as the official world record. On attempt 2, he was a 20.42, which may be slightly disappointing to swimming fans who expected Dressel to cruise under 20 seconds in the race. But as noted by host\u00a0Elizabeth Beisel<\/strong>, who broke out her Olympic racing suit from the 2008 Games, it took a lot of stroke adjustment at the time to fully equip yourself in the bodysuit.<\/p>\n

“The suit doesn’t make the swimmer. The swimmer makes the suit,” Dressel said at the end of the attempts.<\/p>\n

\"Caeleb

Caeleb Dressel in his personally-designed suit. Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI had to change a couple of things like my body position. It felt really, really good – but I\u2019ll say this; nothing is guaranteed and the suit doesn\u2019t make the swimmer, the swimmer makes the suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got up and I raced tough, I wouldn\u2019t change anything about it.\u201d When asked if he\u2019d take the challenge on again he replied;<\/p>\n

\u201cOh I would 100% do it again. It\u2019s not about going as fast as you can all the time, it\u2019s about learning from the sport and I think that\u2019s the most important thing I can take away from today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about the event, Rob Hicking<\/strong>, brand director at Speedo, said: \u201cWhen we first came up with the idea for this challenge we knew it was going to be really difficult to beat 20 seconds as there\u2019s a reason nobody has ever broken that barrier \u2013 but we wanted to see how fast humans could go in water if unrestricted. It\u2019s in our brand DNA to take risks and see how far we can push the limits of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an amazing partner for the event in Caeleb \u2013 credit to him for putting himself out there, having some fun and exploring what was possible. Whilst the Sub 20 barrier remains, he is still the fastest man the world has ever seen and we can\u2019t wait to see what Caeleb can achieve in 2021 and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although not an official time, Dressel’s swim is the second fastest 50 freestyle done in a bodysuit behind\u00a0Roland Schoeman’s\u00a0<\/strong>20.30 from the 2009 South African Nationals<\/a>, which stood as the world record for five years before it fell to France’s\u00a0Florent Manaudou<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in 2014.<\/p>\n

Watch Caeleb Dressel’s attempts below:<\/p>\n